My first hand shower was a prize I won in a Hansgrohe contest. It offered exceptional functionality, but mostly it sat hanging on my shower arm unused. Then I had back surgery and it became a critical item during my recovery.

I could sit on my shower bench, and my wife could easily help me shower with the hand shower hose’s reach. For me, it is an important reason to have a hand shower. If you have back, knee, or hip surgery, or whatever it may be where your mobility is seriously hampered, it is a big help.

Winters in Arkansas tend to be unpredictable and inconsistent. Is it really going to snow? Are the temperatures really going to be 25° at night and 50° during the day? A couple of years back we ended up with a winter weather warning in Hot Springs. A week earlier, temperatures had been in the 60s so I did not think too much of it. We ended up with 10” of snow and a healthy dusting of ice. Our pipes froze and broke in three places because we had not taken the right precautions. Forget Winter Wonderland, we had a Winter Blunderland.

Now that our kids are grown, my wife and I like to take road trips, just the two of us. One of our favorites was to Lake Dardanelle State Park and relaxing in a lush VRBO sitting on the edge of the lake. I have developed a bad habit on our trips. We get inside with all of our bags and then I run around checking all the plumbing fixtures.

I can get a little overconfident when I have a plumbing issue at home. After all I have been doing this for 35 years. How hard can it be? From personal experience I would say you can get in over your head swiftly.

A great irony follows freestanding baths today. With origins around 1700 BC, freestanding baths were made of stone or clay and had an oval or round shape. We like to pat ourselves on the back for creative innovations, but our ancestors had us beat by over a thousand years on this one.

I had some nice customers today. They were building a new house, but they did not have a set of plans. They did not know who their plumber was. They had no priorities or purpose for their visit to the showroom. I am sure they felt frustrated. We want to help you avoid or defeat frustration. Just a few steps of preparation can make the process much simpler and your visit more productive.